1993 Child Sexual Abuse Allegations
The 1993 Child Sexual Abuse Allegations began in the summer of 1993 after late screenwriter \ dentist Evan Chandler accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son Jordan. Michael Jackson's Friendship with Jordan Chandler By the summer of 1993, it was revealed that Jackson had children sleep over in his bed with him at Neverland Ranch, a fact which came under much media scrutiny when child sexual abuse allegations were brought against him. Jackson became firm friends with Jordan Chandler and his family after a meeting in May of 1992 as he was a fan of Jackson. Their friendship became so close that the "National Enquirer" ran a featured story with the title "Michael's New Adopted Family" which implied that Jackson had "stolen" the boy from his estranged father Evan Chandler, who was admittedly jealous over Jackson's influence on his son. According to celebrity biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Evan asked him, "Look, are you having sex with my son?". After Jackson denied doing so, Evan's opinion of him changed. Jackson invited Jordan, his mother, and stepsister to visit Neverland on the weekends and they would also take trips to Las Vegas and Florida. These weekend trips began to interfere with Jordan's scheduled visits with his father with Jordan preferring to visit Neverland. In May 1993, when Jackson and Jordan stayed with Evan, he urged Jackson to spend more time with his son at his house and even suggested that Jackson build an addition onto the house so that he could stay there. After the zoning department told Evan that it could not be done, he suggested Jackson just build him a new home. During that same month, Jordan and June flew with Jackson to Monaco for the World Music Awards. According to June's lawyer, Michael Freeman, "Evan began to get jealous of the involvement and felt left out." Upon their return, Evan was pleased with a 5-day visit from Jackson during which Jackson slept in a room with Jordan and his stepbrother. Evan claimed this was when his suspicions of sexual misconduct by Jackson began. Although he admitted that Jackson and Jordan always had their clothes on when he saw them in bed together, he never claimed to have witnessed any sexual misconduct between the two. Tape Recording \ Sodium Amytal On July 2, 1993, in a private telephone conversation, Evan was tape-recorded as saying: "There was no reason why he (Michael Jackson) had to stop calling me ... I picked the nastiest son of a bitch I could find Chandler's lawyer, Barry Rothman, all he wants to do is get this out in the public as fast as he can, as big as he can and humiliate as many people as he can. He's nasty, he's mean, he's smart and he's hungry for publicity. Everything's going to a certain plan that isn't just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. I've given him full authority to do that. Jackson is an evil guy, he is worse than that and I have the evidence to prove it. If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over." In the same conversation, when he asked how this would affect his son, Evan replied: "That's irrelevant to me ... It will be a massacre if I don't get what I want. It's going to be bigger than all us put together ... This man Michael is going to be humiliated beyond belief ... He will not sell one more record." The recorded conversation was a critical aspect of Michael's defense against the upcoming allegation made against him. He and his supporters argue that he was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to extort money from him. In October 1994, Mary A. Fischer of GQ magazine reported that it was Evan Chandler who initially accused Michael of molesting his son before he demanded a screenwriting deal from him instead of going to the police. Allegations & Negotiations According to Taraborrelli, Evan was forced to admit the controversial sedative sodium amytal was used when he extracted a tooth from Jordan in early August. On May 3, 1994, KCBS-TV news reported that Evan claimed the sodium amytal was used for tooth extraction and that the allegations came out while Jordan was under the influence of the drug Mark Torbiner (the dental anesthesiologist who administered the drug) told GQ if sodium amytal was used, "It was for dental purposes." According to "Hard Copy"'s Diane Dimond, Mark's records show that Robinul and Vistarol was administered instead of sodium amytal. Over the next couple of months, both parties engaged in unsuccessful (out of court) financial negotiations with Evan and his legal team asking for $20 million or the issue would be taken to criminal court. Michael Jackson declined the offer, saying, "No way in Hell." A few weeks later, his legal team gave a counter-offer to the value of $1 million which Evan declined. Pellicano said he made the offers he said in an attempt to catch the Chandler's negotiating and tape recorded one of the telephone calls to Rothman to demonstrate this. Evan then lowered his request to $15 million, but Michael rejected this and lowered his original counter-offer to $350,000. With both sides unable to reach an agreement, Jordan decided that he would take it to court. Then, Evan took Jordan to see a psychiatrist called Dr. Mathis Abrams. During the three-hour session with the doctor, Jordan said he had had a sexual relationship with Michael that went on for several months which included incidents of kissing, masturbation and oral sex. Then, Jordan repeated these allegations to the police and gave a detailed description of what he alleged was Michael's penis. Allegations Go Public \ Investigation On August 18, 1993, the Los Angeles Police Department's Sexually Exploited Child Unit began a criminal investigation on Michael. On that same day, Jordan Chandler's mother told police that she did not believe Michael Jackson had molested her son. On August 21, 1993, a search warrant was issued, allowing police to search Neverland Ranch. The police questioned 30 children who were friends of Michael and they all denied that he was a child molester. A police officer involved in the investigation told "The Los Angeles Times" that no evidence (medical, photographic or video) could be found that would support a criminal filing. On the same day the allegations were made public, Michael began the third leg of his Dangerous World Tour in Bangkok. On August 24, 1993, Michael's investigator held a press conference accusing Chandler of trying to extort $20 million from Michael although the investigator failed to mention that Michael had given several counter-offers. On August 25, 1993, Michael's young friends Brett Barnes and Wade Robson held a press conference in which they stated that they had slept in the same bed as Michael, but nothing sexual in nature had occurred. Michael's family soon held a press conference of their own to show support, saying it was their "unequivocal belief" that Michael had been made a victim of "a cruel and obvious attempt to take advantage of his fame and wealth." The police then began an investigation into Evan Chandler's prior actions and found that he was $68,400 behind in his child support payments even though he was well-paid as a dentist. On November 8, 1993, the police searched the Jackson family home, Hayvenhurst, but they found nothing of importance to add to their investigation. La Toya Jackson's Accusations In the winter of 1993, despite not seeing or speaking to Michael for a number of years, his sister La Toya Jackson claimed that he was a pedophile and that she had proof that she was prepared to disclose for a fee of $500,000. A bidding war between US and UK tabloids began, but they fell through when they realized that her revelations were not what she had claimed them to be. Then in Israel, La Toya stated: "I cannot and will not be a silent collaborator in his crimes against young children ... Forget about the superstar, forget about the icon. If he was any other 35-year-old man who was sleeping with little boys, you wouldn't like this guy." La Toya also claimed that checks had been made out to several boys and that Jackson's own physical abuse as a child had turned him into an abuser. She would later claim that Michael had tried to kidnap and kill her. The rest of the family disowned La Toya and in subsequent years, she would insist that she was forced to make the allegations by her then-husband for financial gain. Just prior to making the allegations, La Toya's husband was arrested for striking her in the face, arms and legs with a chair. By the turn of the millennium, Michael had forgiven her. Michael & Lisa Marie Presley Michael first met Lisa Marie Presley (and Elvis Presley) in 1974, during a Jackson 5 engagement at the MGM Grand. In November of 1992, Michael was reconnected with her through a mutual friend & stayed in contact almost every day by telephone. As the child sexual abuse accusations became public, Michael became dependent on Lisa Marie for emotional support. She was concerned about Michael's faltering health and his addiction to drugs. Lisa Marie explained: "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it." In one phone call that Michael made to her, Lisa Marie described him as high, incoherent and delusional. He proposed to her over the phone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?" According to Lisa Marie, the marriage was described as "a married couple's life ... that was sexually active." Two years later, they divorced, but remained friendly to each other. Michael's Health Issues In order to deal with the stress of the allegations, Michael began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax & Ativan. A few months after the allegations became news, he had lost approximately 10 pounds in weight and had stopped eating. According to Michael, he had a tendency to stop eating when "really upset or hurt" and Elizabeth Taylor had to make him eat during this ordeal. According to him, "She took the spoon and would put it into my mouth." Michael said that he eventually became unconscious and had to be fed intravenously. In a court deposition unrelated to alleged child abuse, he was visibly drowsy, lacked concentration and repeatedly slurred while speaking. Michael couldn't remember the dates of his prior album releases or the names of people he had worked with and took several minutes to name some of his recent albums. Michael's health had deteriorated to the extent that he canceled the remainder of his tour and flew with Elizabeth and her husband to London. When Michael arrived at the airport, he had to be held up & was then rushed to the home of Elton John's manager and afterwards to a clinic. When he was searched for drugs on entry, eighteen vials of medicine were found in a suitcase. Michael booked the whole fourth floor of the clinic, and was put on a Valium IV to wean him from painkillers. His spokesperson told reporters that Michael was "barely able to function adequately on an intellectual level." While he was at the clinic, Michael took part in group and one-on-one therapy sessions. The Strip Search In December of 1993, Michael was served with a warrant for a strip search of his body as the police wanted to verify Jordan Chandler's description of Michael's private anatomy. The order stated that officers were to examine, photograph and videotape his entire body including his "penis, anus, hips, buttocks and any other part of his body." The warrant stated they were looking for discoloration or any other signs of vitiligo which he had previously spoken about or any other skin disorder & that refusal to comply would be used in court as an indication of guilt. On December 20, 1993, the strip search took place at Michael's ranch. The people present were Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon, a detective, a photographer and a doctor. Those present on behalf of Michael were his two attorneys, a physician, a detective, a bodyguard and a photographer. The attorneys and Sneddon agreed to leave the room when the examination took place. Michael demanded that the prosecution detective should also leave which he subsequently did. In an emotional state, Michael stood on a platform in the middle of the room & took off all his clothes. The search lasted for approximately 25 minutes although Michael was never physically touched. The reports vary on whether or not the photographs of Michael corroborated with Jordan's allegations. Reuters reported that an unidentified source informed them on January 27, 1994 that "photos of Michael Jackson’s genitalia do not match description given by the boy" which was reported in USA Today on January 28, 1994. However, according to child sexual abuse consultant Bill Dworin (who was one of the lead detectives from the LAPD to the allegations), Jordan's description cooperated with the photos taken of Michael's genitalia. Dr. Richard Strick who conducted the examination of Michael's genitals claimed: "I was told later that the photos and description absolutely matched." According to Sneddon in a 2005 memorandum in "People v. Jackson": "The photographs reveal a mark on the right side of Defendant's penis at about the same relative location as the dark blemish located by Jordan Chandler on his drawing of Defendant's erect penis" and "Chandler's graphic representation of the discolored area on Defendant's penis is substantially corroborated by the photographs." Sneddon ended his declaration with: "I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct except for those statements made on information and belief, as to those statements, I believe them to be true." Sergeant Gary Spiegel (the sheriff’s photographer) claims he observed a dark spot on the lower side of Michael's penis. It was reported that Jordan Chandler claimed that Michael was circumcised. Michael's autopsy report reveals that he had not been circumcised and his foreskin appeared naturally intact and showed no signs of having been restored from a circumcision. Taraborrelli also wrote that Michael correctly noted patchy colored skin on his buttocks, short pubic hair and testicles marked pink & brown. On February 10, 1993, Michael revealed to "Oprah" that he had a skin disorder that destroyed skin pigmentation & left blotches on his skin and that make-up was used to even out his skin. The live interview was watched by 90 million viewers and after it aired, expert information on vitiligo was widely shared in the media. According to private investigator Anthony Pellicano (who questioned Jordan in July of 1993 after hearing Evan's taped phone call), Jordan denied that he ever saw Michael's body, but said that he did lift his shirt once to show him the blotches on his skin. Michael's Response to the Allegations On December 22, 1993, Michael responded to the allegations and everything that had occurred for the first time via satellite from his ranch, stating: "As you may already know, after my tour ended I remained out of the country undergoing treatment for a dependency on pain medication...There have been many disgusting statements made recently concerning allegations of improper conduct on my part. These statements about me are totally false...I will say I am particularly upset by the handling of the mass—matter by the incredible, terrible mass media. At every opportunity, the media has dissected and manipulated these allegations to reach their own conclusions. I ask all of you to wait and hear the truth before you label or condemn me. Don't treat me like a criminal, because I am innocent. I have been forced to submit to a dehumanizing and humiliating examination...It was the most humiliating ordeal of my life...But if this is what I have to endure to prove my innocence, my complete innocence, so be it." According to a poll conducted by "A Current Affair" at the time, 75 percent of people believed that Michael was telling the truth. While Michael sought medical help for his faltering health, his legal team and friends (such as Lisa Marie Presley and Elizabeth Taylor) took control of his defense and finances. Much of Michael's legal team would meet three times a week at Elizabeth's home to discuss the case. Elizabeth then called in more legal professionals on his behalf. Eventually Lisa Marie, Elizabeth and Michael's legal team all agreed that he should settle out of court. It was their opinion that Michael's health had deteriorated to such a degree that he could not endure a lengthy trial. Media Reaction Most of information available on the allegations was released (officially or unofficially) by the prosecution and unchallenged by Michael. He was largely portrayed as guilty by the media. The media bias was evident in the use of sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline, the purchasing of stories of his alleged criminal activity, the purchasing of confidential leaked material from the police investigation, deliberately using pictures of his appearance at its worst, using headlines that strongly implied his guilt and a general lack of objectivity. The "New York Post" ran the headline "Peter Pan or Pervert" despite minimal information being disclosed by the police. Just two weeks after the allegations were reported, the headline: "Michael Jackson: A Curtain Closes" reflected the attitude of most tabloid-orientated media. In a piece for "Hard Copy," journalist Diane Dimond (who would spend the next fifteen years trying to prove Michael was a pedophile) ran a story stating: "And one more shocker, Hard Copy has obtained new documents in the criminal investigation of Michael Jackson and they are chilling; they contain the name of child movie actor Macaulay Culkin." The document itself stated that Macaulay strongly denied being harmed by Michael. Two tabloid television shows accepted confidential leaked documents from the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services for $20,000. A number of Michael's former employees—most of whom had worked at his ranch—sold stories to the tabloids of alleged prior sexual misconduct on Michael's part instead of reporting their claims to police. One couple initially asked for $100,000 claiming that Michael sexually caressed Macaulay Culkin. They were prepared to expand upon this allegation for a fee of $500,000 whereby they would allege that Michael put his hands down Macaulay's pants. When the story broke, Macaulay strongly denied the allegation and did so again in court during the 2003 trial of Michael Jackson. A former security guard made various allegations about Michael, saying he was fired because he "knew too much" and alleged that he was ordered by Michael to destroy a photo of a naked boy. Instead of reporting this to the police, "Hard Copy" accepted the story in return for $150,000. Afterwards, Jackson's maid Branca Francia alleged that she "quit in disgust" after seeing him in a shower with a child, but didn't tell the police. It later emerged that Francia was actually fired in 1991, but nevertheless, she sold her story to "Hard Copy" for $20,000. When Michael left the United States to go into drug rehabilitation, the media showed him little sympathy. The Daily Mirror (UK) held a "Spot the Jacko" contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where Michael would appear next. A "Daily Express" headline read "Drug Treatment Star Faces Life on the Run" while a "News of the World" headline accused Michael of being a fugitive. These tabloids also falsely alleged that Michael had traveled to Europe to have cosmetic surgery that would make him unrecognizable on his return. Geraldo Rivera set up a mock trial, with a jury made up of audience members, even though Michael had not been charged with a crime. Out of Court Settlement On September 14, 1993, a civil lawsuit was filed by Jordan Chandler and his parents. In late 1993, district attorneys in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties both convened grand juries to assess whether criminal charges should be filed against Jackson. By January 1, 1994, $2 million had been spent by prosecution departments in California and the grand juries had questioned 200 witnesses, but Jordan's allegations could not be corroborated. On January 4, 1994, Chandler's attorney, Larry Feldman filed a motion for the photos from Michael's December 1993 body search from investigators, saying Michael's attorneys and the L.A. district attorney had refused to give him copies. A few weeks later, Feldman petitioned the court that he should be allowed access to Michael's finances over concerns that his wealth would give him an unfair advantage in court. One adviser to Michael stated: "You can take pictures of Michael's dick and he's not gonna like it, but once you start trying to figure out how much money he has, that's where he stops playing around." Initially Michael and his lawyers filed a motion for Superior Court Judge David M. Rothman to postpone the civil case until the criminal investigation was concluded. Feldman filed a counter-motion, saying the delay would hurt Jordan's chances for recovery and make it more difficult to gather evidence. It is legal to postpone a civil lawsuit past the criminal statute of limitations as a lawsuit can still be filed past that date, such as the case of Pacers, Inc. v. Superior Court. Also, the constitutional right to a "speedy trial" only applies to criminal cases according to the Sixth Amendment, not civil cases. On November 23, 1993, Judge Rothman accepted Feldman's motion and set March 21, 1994 as the start date for the civil trial. Rothman ordered Michael's deposition scheduled before the end of January of 1994, but noted he might reconsider if he was indicted on criminal charges. Michael agreed to be deposed on January 18th. Michael's attorneys said he was eager to testify, but also said they might oppose the deposition if criminal charges were filed or were still under consideration on his deposition date. They said if charges were filed, they would want the criminal trial to go first, however, when authorities notified Michael's lawyers that they expected their investigation to continue at least through February, his team still failed to win a delay of the civil case. Michael's lawyers also lost a motion to prevent Feldman from turning over information (e.g. from the civil deposition) to prosecutors pursuing possible criminal charges. The concerns about a civil trial during an ongoing criminal investigation, and about the prosecutor's access to the plaintiff's information in the civil trial, stemmed from Michael's Fifth Amendment rights. As two grand juries had deemed there was insufficient evidence for charges as of January 1st, the prosecution might have been able to form the elements of a criminal case around the defense strategy in the civil trial which created a situation akin to double jeopardy. For instance, prosecutor Tom Sneddon altered fundamental elements of his case in 2004 after evidence undermining the Arvizo family's 2003 allegations appeared after Jackson's initial arraignment. Upon discovery of two taped interviews in which the Arvizo family praised Michael and denied any abuse, Sneddon introduced a conspiracy charge and claimed they were forced to lie against their will. When Michael was re-arraigned in April of 2004 for the conspiracy charge, the dates of the alleged molestation on the charge sheet had been shifted by almost two weeks. His lawyer, Mark Geragos, had announced on NBC in January of 2004 that his client had a "concrete, iron-clad alibi" for the dates on the charge sheet. On January 24, 1994, the prosecutors announced that they would be not bringing charges against Evan Chandler for attempted extortion as Michael's camp has been slow to report the extortion claim to the police and had tried to negotiate a settlement with Chandler for several weeks. Evan had first made his demand for a financial settlement on August 4, 1993 and the Jackson camp filed extortion charges against Evan and his attorney Barry K. Rothman in late August of 1993. After tape recordings supporting the extortion claim were released to the media on August 30, 1993, a lawyer for Michael explained they had not gone to the police earlier because: "It was our hope that this would all go away. We tried to keep it as much in-house as we could." Michael had already experienced years of bizarre rumors and speculation. In the extortion investigation, a search warrant was never sought to search the homes and offices of Evan Chandler and Barry Rothman and no grand jury was convened when both men declined to interviewed by police. In contrast, the police searched Michael's residences solely based on Jordan's allegations reported by a psychiatrist with no particular expertise in child sexual abuse and increased their efforts to investigate Michael after no supporting evidence was found in their raids and after questioning almost 30 children (Michael's phonebooks were seized) and their families, all of whom said Michael's had done nothing wrong. Officers flew to the Philippines to interview two ex-housekeepers who had sold a molestation story to the tabloids, but decided it lacked credibility. Several parents also complained to one of Michael's attorneys of aggressive investigative techniques by the police; allegedly frightening their children with lies, e.g. "We have nude photos of you" to pressure them into accusing Jackson and unequivocally telling parents their children had been molested even though their children had denied being victimized. On January 25, 1994, the Chandlers' lawsuit was settled out of court with $15,331,250 to be held in a trust fund for Jordan, $1.5 million for each of his parents and the family's lawyer slated to receive $5 million for a total of approximately $23 million (although another source showed Feldman was to receive $3 million based on a September 1993 retainer for a total of $21 million). According to some sources Evan Chandler himself is the one who initiated the settlement with Michael's insurer. Michael's insurance company "negotiated and paid the settlement, over the protests of Mr. Jackson and his personal legal counsel" and was "''the source of the settlement amounts."'' It also noted "an insurance carrier has the right to settle claims covered by insurance where it decides settlement is expedient and the insured may not interfere with nor prevent such settlements" as established by a number of precedents in California. Defeating the right would involve convincing a court with the power to overrule the precedent that the earlier decision was either wrongly decided or more often, 'clearly' wrong (depending on the criteria of the court) or the court must be convinced to distinguish the case. That is, to make the ruling narrower than that in the precedent due to some difference in facts between the current and precedent case while still supporting the result reached in the earlier case. In 2004, Michael's attorney Thomas Mesereau in "People v. Jackson" said: "People who intended to earn millions of dollars from his record and music promotions did not want negative publicity from these lawsuits interfering with their profits. Michael Jackson now regrets making these payments. These settlements were entered into with one primary condition – that condition was that Mr. Jackson never admitted any wrongdoing. Mr. Jackson always denied doing anything wrong...Mr. Jackson now realizes the advice he received was wrong." Michael explained why had he tried to settle: "I wanted to go on with my life. Too many people had already been hurt. I want to make records. I want to sing. I want to perform again...It's my talent. My hard work. My life. My decision." He also wanted to avoid a "media circus." Although some perceive the settlement as an admission of guilt, the settlement agreement specifically stated that Michael admitted no wrongdoing and no liability and legally, a settlement cannot be used as evidence of guilt in future civil and criminal cases. The settlement payment was "for alleged personal injuries arising out of claims of negligence and not for claims of intentional or wrong acts of sexual molestation." In the settlement, both parties agreed they would not speak about the case details in public but it did not prevent the Chandlers from testifying in a criminal trial or sharing information with authorities in a criminal investigation. The Chandlers' lawyer Mr. Feldman explicitly stated "nobody bought anybody's silence." Bribery to not testify in a trial is a felony according to California Penal Code 138. Receiving such a bribe is also a felony according to this law. District Attorney Gil Garcetti stated the settlement didn't affect criminal prosecution of the molestation allegations: "The criminal investigation of singer Michael Jackson is ongoing and will not be affected by the announcement of the civil case settlement." Jordan Chandler was interviewed after the settlement by detectives seeking evidence of child molestation, but "no criminal charges were filed as a result of that interview." On May 2, 1994, a Santa Barbara County grand jury disbanded without indicting Michael while a Los Angeles County grand jury continued to investigate the sexual abuse allegations. On July 6, 1994, the Chandlers stopped cooperating with the criminal investigation & the police never pressed criminal charges. Citing a lack of evidence without Jordan's testimony, the state closed its investigation on September 22, 1994. According to the grand juries, the evidence presented by the Santa Barbara police and the LAPD was not convincing enough to indict Michael or subpoena him even though grand juries can indict the accused purely on hearsay evidence. Aftermath On January 25, 1994 (a week after the settlement of the Chandler's lawsuit was announced), L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti announced he supported amending a law that prohibits forcing people who say they have been sexually assaulted to testify in criminal proceedings. The amendment introduced into the state assembly the week of February 7th would have immediately allowed Gil to compel Jordan to testify. Around that time, Santa Barbara police interviewed the 13-year-old son of one of Michael's former maids (who had told them her son had spent time with Michael) and then arranged for him to see a therapist after he repeatedly denied being abused. In a deposition, his mother stated when she asked the police about who she could speak to about her concerns about their meetings and phone conversations with her son without her present, they arranged for her and her son to see separate therapists. On April 11, 1994, the grand jury session in Santa Barbara was extended for an additional 90-day term to allow Sneddon to gather more evidence and prosecution sources admitted to being frustrated in their grand jury probe, failing to find direct evidence of the molestation charges. Three years later, Jordan Chandler's alleged account of the relationship was detailed in a book by journalist Victor M. Gutierrez. The book was said to be based on a diary the boy had kept at the time and included details of alleged sexual encounters between Michael and him. In 1995, Michael filed a civil suit against Victor for slander & the jury found in his favor, awarding him $2.7 million in damages, however, that suit was unrelated to the book and the judgement does not serve to refute the allegations contained within. In 1996, Evan Chandler sued Michael for around $60 million, claiming he had breached an agreement never to discuss the case. In 1999, a court ruled in Michael's favor and threw out the lawsuit, but the 1993 case would be revisited again with the 2003 allegations. There was more than a year between Michael's 2003 arrest and the beginning of his trial and he was prevented by a gag order from responding to any stories in the media. As in 1993, prosecution sympathizers leaked documents (e.g. Jordan Chandler's 1993 police statement). The media was again eager to report on the allegations, with a tendency for sensationalism & allegations sold to tabloid TV shows by disgruntled ex-employees in the 1990s were constantly in the news again. Also similar to 1993, details of the Arvizo family's 2003 allegations were leaked. These stories were mostly reported as allegations rather than facts, but the volume and frequency of stories, combined with Michael's inability to refute them, had a devastating impact on public opinion of him. In a 2005 lecture at Harvard after Michael's trial, his attorney Thomas Mesereau said the following about Jordan Chandler: "The prosecutors tried to get him to show up and he wouldn't. If he had, I had witnesses who were going to come in and say he told them it never happened and that he would never talk to his parents again for what they made him say. It turned out he'd gone into court and got legal emancipation from his parents." In 2006, Jordan accused Evan of attacking him with a barbell, choking him and spraying his face with mace, but the charges were later dropped. On November 5, 2009 (fourteen weeks after Michael's death), Evan Chandler was found dead following an apparent suicide. Music journalist Charles Thomson noted a continued media bias against Michael after Evan's suicide. Thomson said he was contacted by a British tabloid to supply information about the 1993 allegations, only to have them replace his carefully researched information with the common myths he advised them to avoid and that the same misinformation was in every article he read about the suicide. He noted when Michael's FBI file was released the following month, the contents were portrayed by the media as giving an impression of guilt even though the file strongly supported his innocence. He noted how Gene Simmons' allegations in 2010 about Michael molesting children received over a hundred times more coverage than his interview with Michael's long-time guitarist, Jennifer Batten who rebutted Simmon's claims. The Effect on Michael's Career Jackson's commercial appeal and public image declined in the wake of the case. The album released prior to the allegations was "Dangerous" which stands as one of the world's best-selling records. The album's appeal meant that singles were still being released through 1993 (at the time of the allegations) and Michael was still traveling the world on his Dangerous World Tour. The last charting single from the album was the ballad "Gone Too Soon" (which was released in December of 1993 and dedicated to the memory of Michael's friend Ryan White, a teenager from Kokomo, Indiana who came to national attention after being expelled from his school for having HIV / AIDS). A rumored tenth single release of the title track "Dangerous" was cancelled. The government of Dubai barred Michael from performing in response to an anonymous pamphlet campaign that attacked him as immoral. After performing 24 shows of the third leg of the tour, Michael canceled the remainder of the tour to seek treatment for his pain medication addictions. PepsiCo stopped all promotional activities with Michael which ended their ten-year partnership. His fans responded by boycotting the company. Michael had contracted to create a new horror-themed song and video that would be cross-promoted with the film "Addams Family Values." He was unable to finish shooting the video and his song was dropped from the soundtrack. A brand of his-and-hers fragrances was canceled because of Michael's drug problems at the time. A spokesman for the marketing group behind the fragrance deal called it "somewhat of a fiasco." Michael's next studio album "HIStory" was released in the summer of 1995. He also produced a special show for cable-network HBO titled "For One Night Only" with the show to be recorded in front of a special invited audience at New York City's Beacon Theater on December 8 and 9, 1995 for transmission on HBO on December 10th, however, the shows were canceled after Michael collapsed at the theater on December 6th during rehearsals. Michael was admitted overnight to Beth Israel Medical Center North. The shows and the HBO special were never rescheduled. The following year, he began the HIStory World Tour. Despite the show's success, Michael's only concerts in the USA were two shows performed at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. He never performed another world tour. The allegations also had an effect on the content of Michael's music. His album "HIStory" (which was released shortly after the allegations) "creates an atmosphere of paranoia" according to one writer. The album's content focuses on the public struggles Michael went through just prior to its production. In the songs "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie" along with the ballad "You Are Not Alone," he directs much of his anger and personal hurt at the media. In the track "D.S.", Michael launches a verbal attack against a character who is often cited to be Tom Sneddon (the District Attorney that requested his strip search). He describes the person as an antisocial white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive." Of the song, Sneddon said: "I have not, shall we say, done him the honor of listening to it, but I’ve been told that it ends with the sound of a gunshot." In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow," Michael laments over his "swift and sudden fall from grace." Michael completed the video that was originally supposed to accompany "Addams Family Values" and released it as "Ghosts." The finished video included a framing story about an eccentric maestro who entertains children and is pursued by a bigoted local official. In 2001, Michael's last album "Invincible" was released 6 years later (which was his longest period between full studio records. Following a conflict between Michael and his record label, Sony Music stopped promoting the album. The album would go on to be seen as a relative commercial disappointment when compared to Michael's prior solo material, although it sold 13 million copies worldwide. Category:Michael Jackson Wiki